In An Era Of E-Readers & E-Books, This Crowdsourced Library In Mumbai Is A Breath Of Fresh Air
Pushpendra Pandya started India&rsquos First Crowd Sourced Library IFCSL Almost all the books in this library are pre-owned books from avid readers. He spends almost every Sunday travelling across different parts of the city to collect the books from donors.
When was the last time you picked up a book and read it all the way through? Let's admit it, the art of reading is dying a slow death, all thanks to online digital platforms and fancy gizmos like Kindles. Nothing can replace the joy of reading a hardbound book and one man from Mumbai is hoping to revive the habit.
Pushpendra Pandya, a copywriter and a digital social media content developer by profession, started India¡¯s First Crowd Sourced Library (IFCSL). Almost all the books in this library are pre-owned books from avid readers.
Melville House Books
Reading and exchanging books is something all of us did as kids and that's how Panday came up with the crowdsourced library.
¡°Kindles and other ebook formats are killing our age old book-reading experience and I genuinely feel that we need a place where some old-fashioned people like me and you, can sit and read a real book.¡± he said in an interview with Melville House Books.
He spends almost every Sunday travelling across different parts of the city to collect the books from donors.
His main obstacle is transporting books, "to carry heavy loads of 45-plus books in a local transport is a war in itself." he told the New Indian Express. But altruism trumps all challenges that come along his way.
His happiness lies in spreading the joy of reading. What started off as a library with 400 books has now grown to more than 2000 and he also plans to expand to cities like New Delhi and Coimbatore and Kolkata.
Through the library¡¯s website, book lovers can rent books at 250 rupees and one can borrow up to 52 books a year.
All the book-worms out there, here's the pathway to heaven!
